Google's CTO of Android Tablets Sees Tablet Sales Passing Laptops 'in the Not Too Distant Future' (theverge.com) 45
An anonymous reader shares a report: After seemingly forgetting that Android tablets existed for a while, Google is suddenly very invested in the market. Android 12L is in development to support larger-screened devices, and one of the platform's co-founders, Rich Miner, has rejoined the team with the title "CTO of Android tablets." Now, speaking to developers during an episode of Google's The Android Show, Miner explained the opportunity the company is seeing. [...] The other reason he cites is that tablets can be "very capable, less expensive than a laptop." That spurred Google's work on Android 12L to optimize its system UI for use on bigger devices, as well as the way it formats apps to fit on big screens.
Miner is making the pitch for developers to look at their apps and consider taking advantage of the tools Google's building to improve tablet support or even building apps that approach the market as a tablet-first experience. He points to 2020 sales data, where "tablet purchases actually started to approach the number of laptop shipments... I actually think there's going to be a crossover point at some point in the not too distant future where there are more tablets sold annually than there are laptops. I think once you cross over that point, you're not going to be coming back."
Miner is making the pitch for developers to look at their apps and consider taking advantage of the tools Google's building to improve tablet support or even building apps that approach the market as a tablet-first experience. He points to 2020 sales data, where "tablet purchases actually started to approach the number of laptop shipments... I actually think there's going to be a crossover point at some point in the not too distant future where there are more tablets sold annually than there are laptops. I think once you cross over that point, you're not going to be coming back."
Why is this "news"? (Score:2)
Someone with a vested interest in an outcome sees their preferred outcome.
How about making a wee effort to post better content? It doesn't cost you a dime and you don't do any real work anyway.
I don't think it's a vested interest (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I think it's just obvious. Tablets are now fast enough cheap enough and have a long enough battery life to be a desktop replacement.
Not for developing, unless you go into the cloud for compiling. Same with video editing and creating, animation... There's quite a bit a laptop has the power to do that a tablet does not yet. I will admit, though, I tried out a Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra for a couple of weeks, and it was sweet in "tablet" mode, although the above reasons it's not a laptop killer. The keyboard is lacking and a pain to type on, so I doubt it'll be good for much word processing, but that may be because I'm an old school t
Software is crippled on tablets (Score:2)
The big problem is that the manufacturers intentionally cripple tablet software to not compete with laptops. For example, Zoom on Android tablets has a different GUI with different capabilities. Sharing content on the laptop is easy but not on the tablet. Seeing shared content and participant videos at the same time is easy on a laptop but hard/impossible on a tablet. The tablets have plenty of screen space to do exactly what the laptops do, but that would allow people to buy low-margin tablets instead
Re: (Score:1)
Not just this, but the OS vendors cripple them as well --- I've had to roll back to 1703 on my Samsung Galaxy Book 12 running Windows 10 twice now --- I simply can't use the machine w/ the digital stylus reduced to an 11th touch input as Fall Creators Update implements.
I've long preferred pen computers (started w/ PenPoint on an NCR-3125) and enjoyed a steady stream of improvements (w/ a few dead ends such as Apple's Newton and PalmOS)) but for some reason, Microsoft made it impossible to select text, choos
Re: (Score:2)
I think it's just obvious. Tablets are now fast enough cheap enough and have a long enough battery life to be a desktop replacement.
Not for developing, unless you go into the cloud for compiling. Same with video editing and creating, animation...
While it is true that a tablet cannot replace a laptop for all functions, the same argument can be made for a laptop not replacing a desktop.
A tablet is good enough for most folks who browse the web and watch movies.
Re: (Score:2)
The argument can be made, but laptops are a lot better in performance these days, and a just as good as desktops for a lot of uses (assuming you plug in a real keyboard and a mouse). Even with a mouse and keyboard plugged into a tablet, they are much worse than a laptop for the non-consumer tasks I do.
Re: (Score:2)
I think it's just obvious. Tablets are now fast enough cheap enough and have a long enough battery life to be a desktop replacement.
Yeah but they offer no improvement over a laptop. Whether they win or not will depend on fashion trends. Right now with most tablets being oversized phones, are not capably of competing with laptops, but it could change, though Google is unlikely to be the ones doing it.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
No, they are not. They are great for casual computing - computers which are meant to be used casually to get stuff done.
So if you want to record a quick video, or browse the web, watch some Netflix, a tablet is great for that.
However, if you want to do more power user things, like make sophisticated YouTube videos with production values, or write the next great American novel,
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Agreed. Frankly, it looks to me like Google marketers think they're Apple, and they think they can put out a more desirable product without an M1. Apple has reason to think that their tablets can supplant the laptop. But Google thinks they're going to make money in the hardware tablet market???
Re: (Score:1)
'in the Not Too Distant Future' (Score:2)
Comment removed (Score:3)
Re: (Score:1)
I was fairly sure the market in general has rejected the form factor as a general purpose device.
Yes, I just tried that recently, and failed spectacularly. I bought a tablet made by that well known fruit company, and an external keyboard, thinking that it would be a laptop replacement.
Nope. Not even close. I spent the same amount of money (or more) than I would if I bought a good laptop, and I ended up with a device that was nowhere near as capable.
Tablets are good for certain niche functions. But as a general purpose device, absolutely not.
Re: (Score:2)
> Tablets are good for certain niche functions. But as a general purpose device, absolutely not.
The only place I really actually like using a tablet is for the few times every year or so I find myself staying in a hotel room. They are nice for streaming movies to, without having to fight with a big keyboard and power cords.
If I had to work on a tablet every day, I would throw it across the room and find a new job. They suck for input and real work.
I really feel like if managers had to work on one all day
Re: (Score:2)
And it's a shame in some ways, but that's what Google, Apple, and Amazon have brought forth by making tablets limited to phone operating systems.
I think you hit the nail on the head. I tried to use an iPad + Bluetooth keyboard as a laptop replacement for about a year and a half.
It was a miserable experience. iPadOS is really aggressive about killing "background" apps, and when you return to them, they often (usually) don't resume where you left off.
Sometimes, I'd let the iPad go to sleep for a few minutes, and wake it up, and... it had killed the one and only app I had been running, and -- as usual -- when I started the app again, it... didn't resum
Re: (Score:1)
The market of people who read Slashdot, or have jobs that rely on a traditional computer platform, have rejected them. If your job doesn't revolve around a computer, or lots of data entry, or if you're retired, most of what you're going to care about can be handled perfectly well by a tablet.
Re: (Score:2)
I was fairly sure the market in general has rejected the form factor as a general purpose device. I'm not saying they don't sell well, they apparently sell well enough to not be withdrawn yet, but it's pretty clear their use case, "For the things you can do on your phone, but need something the size of a small laptop to see properly, and don't have logistical issues bringing it with you", isn't that big.
And it's a shame in some ways, but that's what Google, Apple, and Amazon have brought forth by making tablets limited to phone operating systems. A 2:1 Chromebook is ultimately a much nicer way of running Android applications than a tablet, and it has the added benefit of being a real computer (not an ideal real computer, but Crostini does make it possible to use a Chromebook as one.)
The last tablet I bought was back in 2013 (it was the 2013 Nexus 7) and realistically it spent 4 years playing the odd video and the next 4 sitting in a bag. I turned it on recently to see if it could reprise it's role as a portable screen and found it's battery lasted about an hour. I cant be bothered to replace it with a new tablet as nothing seems to be worth it.
Welcome back to 2013? (Score:2)
The industry was convinced that laptops were dead and tablets were the future in 2013. Then it all pretty much imploded, as for the most part the tablet is awkwardly large compared to a phone and awkwardly impractical compared to a laptop.
Don't get me wrong, I have and routinely use a tablet for the very specific task of reading stuff, but for almost every other task, either my phone is more readily at hand or a laptop is going to be easier to use.
Re: (Score:2)
The industry was convinced that laptops were dead and tablets were the future in 2013. Then it all pretty much imploded, as for the most part the tablet is awkwardly large compared to a phone and awkwardly impractical compared to a laptop.
Don't get me wrong, I have and routinely use a tablet for the very specific task of reading stuff, but for almost every other task, either my phone is more readily at hand or a laptop is going to be easier to use.
A tablet is great as a bigger device for consuming content. It's not so good for working.
I don't even like trying to use one as a thin client for remote access to my office desktop.
Re: (Score:2)
Don't get me wrong, I have and routinely use a tablet for the very specific task of reading stuff, but for almost every other task, either my phone is more readily at hand or a laptop is going to be easier to use.
They are also nice for casual time wasting games, but yeah, the limited use cases are the limitation. The sweet spot for tablets is pretty small.
And all running Android? (Score:2)
I'm sure that Apple will have something to say about that?
I use both a laptop and a tablet. Each has its own uses but my worst experience has been trying to touch type on a tablet (not on screen). As a published author entering text is where it is at and being able to work on the move means a laptop is my tool of choice.
Crossover for sales, not usage (Score:1)
I actually think there's going to be a crossover point at some point in the not too distant future where there are more tablets sold annually than there are laptops
This crossover point might occur, but only because all the major players still treat tablets as disposable devices. Apple still refuses to include any sort of storage expansion capability, and Android manufacturers will give you maybe one OS update in a device's life. They want this to be the case for laptops too, and for some (chromebooks and other devices with marginal capabilities) it is somewhat. But people will still use laptops for all their important work because the form factor makes sense. Desp
Where are they ? (Score:2)
Man except samsung who do a ok tablet with its' overpriced S series none of the other get to IPad functonnaly and wow factor.
And I'm not a Apple fan.
Tablet or TV (Score:2)
They're wrong. (Score:2)
The big problem is, it's more efficient for people to type using a keyboard than tapping on a piece of glass that draws a keyboard image on it.
As soon as you get into buying the "keyboard case/cover" accessories for tablets, you're carrying around what's essentially a laptop -- except it's not as good as a real one because the keyboard keys on those are always compromises (less key travel when pressed, etc.). And most likely, the tablet and keyboard portion aren't as stable or rigid, so won't work well if y
There is no "tablet" market (Score:2)
Tablets CANNOT Be Big Enough..... (Score:2)
Real Soon Now, the middle-aged guys who led the computer revolutions will discover an unsettling fact about themselves; they're human beings, and their eyes will start to fail, and they'll need, even with the best glasses in the world, larger screens. Bigger than most tablets, and bigger than many laptops. Back before I retired, I had a 17" laptop - and a 32" monitor plugged in to it.
Re: (Score:2)
Real Soon Now, the middle-aged guys who led the computer revolutions will discover an unsettling fact about themselves; they're human beings, and their eyes will start to fail, and they'll need, even with the best glasses in the world, larger screens. Bigger than most tablets, and bigger than many laptops. Back before I retired, I had a 17" laptop - and a 32" monitor plugged in to it.
But a phone that fits in my pocket is just so much more convenient. My 85 year old mother is using one just fine.
Re: (Score:2)
So get an 11" tablet plugged into a 4K 32" screen over USB-C.
I don't generally see too many 17" laptops on my post-pandemic train journey. Nobody wants to carry that weight in their work satchel, let alone whip it out in a crowd. But plenty of bespectacled folks travel watching videos on phones and tablets.
Re: (Score:2)
Watching video doesn't require super-high resolution; we used to watch TV at 480p. But I cannot edit a spreadsheet or write legibly in a 10 inch screen using an on-screen keyboard.
When I was working, I carried a 17: laptop in a roller bag, and it was tough enough to read. Now, of course, I'm retired and can have TWO 32" monitors - which sometimes aren't big enough. Good thing huge monitor prices have been falling for the last 10 years; I'm going to need something bigger in another 5 years.
No exact date (Score:2)
Nice to make non-disprovable predictions like that. After all, not too distant future can mean 100 years from now or 1000. Compared to the age of the universe - 13 billion years, 1000 years is downright instantaneous.
Do people upgrade them regularly? (Score:2)
I find tablets hold up over the years quite well.
I got a Samsung Tab S2 around 2015, and it's still actually running quite well (battery life is a bit shorter). I use it a few hours a day (game I play, plus some social media like Reddit), still runs all the apps I use just fine, although the version of Android is pretty old.
Picked up an S6 Lite (Costco) a couple months ago, partially worried that the S2 battery might die unexpectedly, and the main thing I've noticed is the battery life is about twice as goo
LOL (Score:1)
If you project this out further (Score:2)
a tablet is like a book (Score:1)
On my breast, me on the couch. Tablet so near to my eyes I can read it like a book, without glasses.
The tablet is physically challenged (Score:2)
I have many times tried to like tablets, but the only one I love is Remarkable, which is a writing eInk tablet with no apps.
The hidden headline (Score:2)
What Google/Alphabet (and others) are trying to convey is that their perception of the future of "laptops" is almost certainly represented by what we currently call "tablets." Naming the thing isn't really the critical point I'm trying to make, though... just that eventually what we think of as portable computers today will fade into the annuls of history, as future iterations will almost certainly predominantly move towards removable keyboards and touchscreens... ergo, tablets.
And yes... eventually our kid